[--- SUMMARY
Several models, based on genetic, linguistic, and archaeological data, have been hypothesised to explain the transition to agriculture in both Neolithic Europe and the Near East. On the other hand much less has been established regarding the North African context and in particular concerning the origin of the Iberomaurusian populations and their relations to both the populations preceding them in the same area and the ones which followed during Neolithic times. Even though this has, given rise to different discussions and hypotheses, throughout time, the debate on the origins of the Iberomaurusian populations has been far from settled. There seems, instead, to be a more general agreement regarding the more gracile Capsian populations, and in particular, most concord these most probably replaced the Iberomaurusian ones during the final portion of the Pleistocene and are the ones which should be considered the immediate ancestors of Berbers and of the other North African populations. Previous studies done using dental morphology have suggested the Iberomaurusians might not be related to the subsequent North Africans. The present study wishes to estimate, through the analysis of 68 dental non metric traits (37 maxillary and 31 mandibular), the biological distances among the two Iberomaurusian samples of Taforalt (77 individuals, 415 teeth examined) and Afalou-BouRhummel (51 individuals, 281 teeth examined) and other 13 samples from the European and Circum-Mediterranean Upper Paleolithic (431 individuals 1668 teeth), Mesolithic (302 individuals, 1992 teeth) and Neolithic (577 individuals, 3159 teeth). In order to assess the morphological affinities among the groups considered, Principal Components (PCA), Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) analyses were applied. The latter of which was calculated from a Mean Measure of Divergence (MMD) matrix. The results obtained, through the different multivariate methods applied, varied slightly, suggesting the persistency of a certain degree of instability. However some trends did remain constant throughout. In particular, the two Iberomaurusian populations (Taforalt and Afalou-Bou-Rhummel) showed, in all the analyses applied, a considerable degree of affinity one another, as did likewise, the Neolithic populations from the Maghreb (Morocco and Tunisia) and the, both contemporary and Calcolithic, populations from Italy and Spain.
The Upper Palaeolithic and Natoufian populations from Israel are very similar one to the other, as are the Upper Palaeolithic-Mesolithic European ones (with the sole exclusion of the Upper Palaeolithic sample from France which is clearly so exclusively in the Multidimensional Scaling). The two Iberomaurusian populations show, in this case quite in disagreement with the abovementioned preceding dental morphology studies, scarce affinity with both the Upper Palaeolithic and Natoufian populations from Israel as well as with the Neolithic ones from the Maghreb and they appear, instead, to share greater affinities with the Upper Palaeolithic-Mesolithic from Europe. This study indicates the populations of the Maghreb share a discrete degree of affinity in both the Late Upper Palaeolithic (Iberomaurusians) and the Neolithic; it does not, on the other hand, indicate the presence of continuity among them. The Iberomaurusian populations seem to have greater affinity to the Upper Palaeolithic-Mesolithic ones from Europe than they do to the contemporaneous ones from Israel. Overall these results certainly add new perspectives to the debate; nonetheless a lot must still be done to comprehend the origins and affinities of Late Pleistocene through Recent North African populations. ---]
